Advances in database technology have given rise to commerce in records, files and databases, per se. For example, paying for a database credit check for an individual or buying a mailing list have become common practice. These well-known systems do not address the problems of how the database is to collect all of the attributes of information that are contained therein. Often, the contents of a database are the result of massive clerical efforts, which usually represent the product of many calendar years of transactional accumulations.
Sometimes, whole databases are merged to form higher precision data clusters. For example, voting turnout lists may be integrated with census data to produce a register from which a statistical profile of voters may be derived. Another example relates to merging the records of a credit card company with the records of a mortgage company. For those persons having an entry in each of the constituent record sets, the result is a credit profile of more precise resolution. In this example, the actual economic value of merged records exceeds the combined values of constituent records. This would likewise be true for the inclusion of any additional attribute of information to any record.
Unfortunately, the current state of information commerce is focused on the sales of whole databases, whole records, or evaluations based on single or clusters of records. In commercial applications where specific attributes of information strongly affect the value of evaluations, there is a need in the art for commerce in such attributes. For example, in targeted advertising, every attribute, which substantially affects the probability of that advertisement's success, innately has a discrete economic value. Likewise, in actuarial calculations, how precisely a client can be profiled determines what the probability of profiting from such a client.
More specifically, there remains a need in the art for assigning values to information attributes or for managing value assignments to information attributes. In the absence of such assignments or management, the commerce in information attributes, per se, is substantially precluded; especially in client-specific advertisement profiling, client-specific actuarial targeting, and the like.